Powernext Is Appointed To Operate The Registry Of Guarantees Of Origin For Five Years

A decree by the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, published on 15 January 2013 in the Official Journal, appointed Powernext as the National issuing body for electricity guarantees of origin in France. This nomination follows a tender from the National Direction of Energy and Climate in March 2012. Powernext will succeed RTE as the guarantee of origin issuing body on 1st May 2013 for a five-year term.

The guarantee of origin scheme is defined in the European Directive 2009/28/CE regarding the promotion of the use of energy produced from renewable sources. The French Registry implemented by Powernext will be in compliance with Decree n°2012-62 published on 20th January 2012 in the context of the transposition of the Directive into French law.

Guarantees of origin are certificates allowing an energy supplier to prove the renewable or cogeneration origin of its power production. They are at the heart of the policy of support to renewable energy and transparency towards final consumers, two crucial themes for Powernext.

“Powernext is proud to bring its expertise to the mechanism of guarantees of origin and to participate to the valorisation and development of renewable energy in France”, declares Jean-François Conil-Lacoste, Powernext’s CEO.

Thanks to its experience as operator of organised market platforms, Powernext will use all its resources to fulfil its mission in the best conditions of performance, neutrality and fairness. Powernext will rely on its robust and proven IT architecture to guarantee a maximum security for the registry, as well as its surveillance and control processes to prevent any fraud risks.

The registry will allow its users to issue guarantees of origin to certify their production, to transfer them to other users, and to use them as a proof of the renewable origin of the electricity used by their final clients. The registry’s account holders will be able to import and export guarantees of origin in Europe as Powernext will be compliant with the AIB’s (Association of Issuing Bodies) European protocol shortly after the registry becomes operational.

The current account holders of RTE’s guarantee of origin registry will need to sign a new agreement with Powernext before using the new registry. The data contained in the current RTE-operated registry will be transferred to Powernext in order to facilitate the transition period.